Iris Sepperin
Iris Sepperin (also known as Iris Zeppelin in the English translation) is a character from Rosenkreuzstilette. She is the biological daughter of Graf Michael Sepperin. She is later revealed to be a reincarnation of Rosenkreuz blessed with his power and knowledge, as well as the franchise's main antagonist. Appearance Iris is a well-dressed little girl with long blond hair with pigtails held by pairs of red beads and ruby red eyes. She dresses in a black, long-sleeved body suit all over her body, including her legs, and wears a pink dress with a red vest over it and wears a red ribbon on the chest area of her vest with a round red gemstone on it. She wears a short pink skirt with another, long white skirt, and white shoes, and wears white gloves. When she reveals herself to be a villain, she is shown wearing a silver tiara with a small red gemstone in the center. In Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel, she gains two pairs of white handkerchiefs with red linings hanging from her red beads holding her pigtails. Personality Iris appears to be a sweet and innocent kid who is loved by everybody, and acts like a kind-hearted girl who is mature for her age. However, all that is just a mask hiding her true personality, which is that of a cruel, selfish, and manipulative little brat who's willing to do anything in her power for her own personal gain. Everything she does, no matter how cruel or hurtful, is all done just for the sake of pleasure, entertainment, and excitement. She is very theatrical with everything she does, and says that the reasons for her actions are mainly to relive herself of her boredom. Iris is also very proud, claiming everything to be little more than her own personal toy and that she is a god or a child of God himself. Iris loves to sing as she talks, often placing the eighth note (♪) at the end of her sentences, and also has a habit of saying "desu wa" when she speaks in the Japanese version. Relationships Spiritia Rosenberg Tia believes that Iris is kind and innocent at first, and at that time, the two get along really well, and Tia believes her to be like a kid sister to everyone. When Iris reveals her true position, she and Tia then become enemies from that point on. It's later revealed that Iris had been looking for Rosenkreuz's spirit throughout her life, and by the time of their final confrontation at the end of the first Rosenkreuzstilette, she realizes that his spirit resides within Tia. Graf Michael Sepperin Graf Sepperin is Iris' biological father, who loves her and cares for her with all his heart, so much so that he is willing to go so far as to make a pact with the devil to protect her. In fact, he doesn't even see the evil within his own daughter, which was a fatal mistake he made that resulted in his death by her hands. Even so, she brings him back to life in Freudenstachel, where he is still protecting her; he is even willing to protect his own murderer. Eifer Skute Eifer Skute is Iris' right-hand girl and creation that she made using Freudia Neuwahl, Tia's childhood friend, as a template. Eifer is shown to be fiercely loyal to Iris, and the two manipulated the Schwarzkreuz into attacking RKS and the Empire together for Iris' personal amusement. Powers and Abilities Iris wields the miracle power of Blitzstrahl, which allows her the extraordinary capability of manipulating lightning energy at her disposal. With it, she can focus her energy and unleash it in the form of lightning orbs and lightning rods, and can even fire reflect lasers as well as her own variations of Tia's Seelegewehr shots. As Iris was born with every ounce of power and intelligence that Rosenkreuz had inherited throughout his life, Iris is both incredibly powerful and amazingly intelligent, two traits that she uses to her advantage for her own plans. Biography Background Iris was born to Graf Sepperin as a reincarnation of Rosenkreuz, whose talents he concealed thanks to her intellect in order to keep the Orthodox Church from learning about them. Paying the utmost caution, Sepperin shared her secret with only the few he felt he could trust. As the years passed, Iris grew bored with the world she lived in until she learned that she was born with absolute power and unparalleled brains, a gift she got from being reincarnated from Rosenkreuz. She decided to use her immense power and knowledge to stage a coup from RKS against the Empire just for her own amusement. A few months before the events of the first Rosenkreuzstilette game, Iris went to work making the members of RKS believe that contempt for their existence was too much for the Empire to take and that persecution towards them began once more. It was thanks to Iris that the members of RKS weren't willing to stand idly as the Empire "brought them back down and began disrespecting their former leader Rosenkreuz." Iris' words of manipulation inspired RKS to launch its own coup against the Empire in an attempt to destroy it and make a peaceful world just for Magi - all as part of her plan for excitement, as well as her desire to usurp God himself. One notable member of RKS, Karl Palesch, who was a member of the RKS Intelligence Division, was able to see through Iris' facade, and made an attempt on her life. Iris outsmarted Karl and decided to get rid of him by telling her father about his attempt to kill her. Graf Sepperin placed Karl within his castle prison. He believed that Karl was a spy working for the Church to assassinate his daughter, and, too, believed that RKS was the target of persecution again, and commanded Freudia to lead the rebellion against the Empire in their attempt to destroy it in order to create a new world for Magi and ensure the safety of Iris herself. Little did RKS know, that Iris was just using the members to do so just to amuse herself and become a god herself. ''Rosenkreuzstilette'' Iris patiently awaited the arrival of Spiritia Rosenberg, who had just gotten back from her six-month training in the Black Forest that she had gone on on the Graf's order prior to the beginning of the story of Rosenkreuzstilette. She welcomed Tia with open arms, just before a huge dragon came crashing into the imperial training hall and kidnapped Iris before Tia's eyes. Before the dragon disappeared with her, Iris dropped her pendant, which Tia picked up for her. Little did Tia know was that Iris was using her pendant to survey Tia's every move, amusing herself with watching her give it her all in her quest to stop RKS's rebellion against the Empire. Later, after the defeat of Graf Sepperin at Tia's hands, Iris used this moment to finish off and kill her own father. She then attacked and fatally injured Tia, who desperately wanted to know what was going on. Iris gladly complied and gave a story of everything that happened around her, ranging from having Karl imprisoned by her father because he saw through her facade to turning her friends against her, among them pitting Liebea against Tia's ideals and the fact that even Sichte swallowed the drivel about a peaceful world where Magi could live in harmony, "hook, line, and sinker," no less. She even pointed out that Tia was the easiest to manipulate, and even pointed out that another reason she killed Graf Sepperin besides no longer having a need for him was to make Zorne, who had always hated her, suffer because she had always desperately yearned for him to someday accept her as his real daughter. Deciding that she no longer needed Tia either, she attempted to finish her off and assassinate her as well only to be stopped by Freu, who froze the entire room to save her, her attack with it. Iris decided to allow the two to prepare themselves for a final showdown and left for her palace. Iris awaited Tia within the ballroom of her palace. Tia refused to forgive Iris for everything that had happened because of her, to which Iris replied questioning her whether a "run-of-the-mill" Magus like her thought she could stand a chance against her. Iris claimed to have transcended humanity and become a god, to which Tia replied voicing that Iris wasn't really a god and warning her that her power would control her instead if she didn't have a pure enough heart to control it. Iris voiced her claims that the world was just her toy and that there wasn't anything wrong with treating people as toys. Tia replied that Iris' "toys" weren't actually toys but people with their own fair share of hardships and their own hopes and dreams who tried to make the most of their lives, which Iris had no right to toy around with. Not one to take any more of Tia's talk, Iris decided to beat the meaning of true power into her to the point of making her draw her very last breath, and unveiled her massive and powerful Iris Machine. Unfortunately for her, her massive fortress was no match for Tia's strong will and determination. A surprised Iris, not able to believe that Tia destroyed her machine and wondering where she got all that energy, decided to back off and left for the sky above her palace, and Tia gave chase. Tia found Iris after the dragon from before, Talos, flew her and Lilli to the place where she was hiding, where Iris confirmed her suspicions that Tia had broken the seal she placed on him. Iris then started laughing maniacally and realized that the one thing she didn't inherit from Rosenkreuz, his ability to tap into the strength of others', along with his spirit, resided within Tia, who was his other incarnation, the "Blade of Rosenkreuz." She stated that she might as well start believing in fate and asked her if she found it to be exhilarating, intoxicating, and/or exuberant, or whether the puny vessel as she called her couldn't fully comprehend the magnificence of it all, to which Lilli replied saying that Tia would always be herself. Tia thanked Lilli and said that none of what Iris said mattered when it came to magic, as her friends gave her the will to fight by giving her their support - that much, Tia knew for sure. Iris decided that the world was fine with just one Rosenkreuz and that she would let Tia join the original in the afterlife, and the final battle started. The battle ultimately culminated in Spiritia's victory against Iris. Iris was so surprised by this outcome that she voiced her disbelief that she lost to Tia and even believed that Tia was fighting by herself. Tia corrected her by saying that the reason why she won was because everyone was cheering her on and that no one truly fought alone. According to Tia, it was because Iris couldn't believe in others nor love her fellow man that she lost the battle. Tia told Iris to give up, but Iris, thinking she let her guard down, invoked the power of her tiara and activated the self-destruct mechanism of her palace in an attempt to take Tia down with it. Iris then escaped her crumbling palace, not realizing that Talos had rescued Tia and Lilli from being crushed within the palace debris. ''Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert'' Iris is shown to be even more cruel towards Grolla Seyfarth in Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert. Grolla becomes a witness to Iris' remorseless murder of a priest and overhears her plans to have RKS fight against the Empire just for her entertainment. Grolla asks her what the meaning of it is and whether she has gone mad, to which Iris replies with an attack that fatally injures Grolla. A surprised Grolla begins wondering what Iris has become and how she came to obtain such powerful magic. Iris says that she is just herself, of course, and doesn't expect a commoner to understand her genius. Grolla realizes to her shock and disbelief that she, a Seyfarth, is afraid of a mere child, and Iris is willing to free her from her suffering. Grolla quickly recovers and corners Iris, asking her questions about what she is plotting and whether she has been deceiving everyone all along. Iris calmly sees Grolla as trembling, and demonstrates a gambit where she pretends she's being threatened when Sichte walks in, causing her to order Grolla to lower her weapon. Knowing that the wrong move could be her last, Grolla escapes, worrying Sichte. Sichte goes to comfort Iris, who gives a short laugh that almost gives away part of her plan, making her suspicious. Iris manipulates RKS into branding Grolla as a traitor to the organization and even manipulates her own father into thinking that Grolla is an assassin working for the Orthodox Church to kill her. After Grolla defeats Graf Sepperin, Iris finishes him and voices her anger at Grolla for continuing to interfere with her plans and says that she tires of her antics. She then mocks Grolla, laughing at the misfortune of having to fight the undead form of her ancestor and master, Raimund Seyfarth, and reveals that she was the one who arranged to have him brought back. Iris attempts to kill Grolla, who foils said attempt by deflecting her attack with her Grollschwert. Impressed, Iris invites her to her palace where she says she's readied a splendid stage for the two of them, and Grolla chases after her. Grolla finds Iris within the ballroom of her palace, who says that she is amused that the ordinary Magus as she calls her would even think of holding her own against her. Grolla has had enough of Iris' boasting to even more of her amazement. She thinks she is jealous and calls her a commoner through and through, saying that nothing she does will ever compare to the genius of her abilities. Grolla says she's willing to allow that privelege all she likes after her blood stains her blade. Wanting to show Grolla how powerless she thinks she truly is, Iris unleashes her Iris Machine, which is then destroyed by Grolla to her shock and disbelief. Iris retreats to the sky above her palace only to be followed by Grolla. Not one to believe that Grolla is able to set foot on the holy grounds of the sky above her palace, Iris finally reveals to Grolla that she is the heiress to the limitless power and intellect of Rosenkreuz himself, and voices her beliefs that she is a child of God himself and therefore can't be compared to the likes of her. Grolla doesn't care whether she calls herself a god, a human, or even an insect, as she is willing to rip her apart all the same. Enraged by what Grolla has said, Iris vows to show her the limits of a commoner, and a fight ensues. After Grolla defeats her, Iris voices that she is unable to accept that Grolla, of all people, actually defeated her. Just when she prepares to finish her once and for all, Iris self-destructs her palace to prevent herself from being killed by a "mere commoner," and escapes in her capsule, with Grolla watching from a nearby cliff as her palace crumbles after having caught her final attack and escaped on her own to avoid her own death. ''Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel'' A few months after the events of the first Rosenkreuzstilette game, Iris created Eifer as a servant, using Freu as a template for the creation (which also resulted in the creation of Strudel, after which the resulting creation of the two different beings produced one Magus that didn't understand happiness or joy and one fairy that didn't understand hatred or sadness), and began working with her in manipulating the Schwarzkreuz into attacking both RKS and the Empire, also for her amusement, with Eifer posing as a member of the Schwarzkreuz and making them start witch-hunting the Magi associated with RKS. She also orchestrated for the Schwarzkreuz's kidnapping of Tia, whom Iris then brainwashed. Later, after Freu defeated all of the Schwarzkreuz, she made it to their homebase where she and Pamela Arwig (who was wounded from their last battle) were about to have another battle with one another when Eifer suddenly attacked and injured her own captain even further. Eifer then revealed that she was working with Iris all along, as Iris revealed herself and revealed that she masterminded the Schwarzkreuz's coup against both RKS and the Empire, while Eifer revealed that she "killed the pope of the Schwarzkreuz a while ago" (although it's unknown whether she actually killed him or not). The two invited Freu to her new palace and Freu gave chase (but not before ordering Liebea Palesch, Karl's younger sister, to tend to Pamela's wounds). Freu found Iris after fighting through her palace, and Iris unleashed her new Iris Machine II. After Freu destroyed her machine, Freu followed her to the sky above her palace where she found Tia, whom she found to have been brainwashed by Iris. Freu promised to free Tia from this trance by defeating her in battle, and did so, forcing Iris out of hiding. Freu defeated Iris in a final battle, surprised that her magic actually worked. With Ruu's help, Freu figured out that she wasn't fighting alone, but rather, Tia was resisting Iris' magic the entire time and that "the Rosenkreuz who has his/her comrades will surely win." Freu then decided to punish her for everything she had done up to that point by sealing her within an ice crystal and sending her off to an unknown location, just before demolishing the palace. ''Rosenkreuzstilette Weißsilber'' After having defeated her colleagues, when Pamela confronted Eifer at the Schwarzkreuz's church, Iris revealed herself and revealed that the two of them were manipulating the Schwarzkreuz into attacking both RKS and the Empire for Iris' own entertainment. The two invited Pamela to her new palace, and Pamela gave chase. She encountered Iris after a long trek through her palace, and Iris unveiled the Iris Machine II. Pamela destroyed the machine and chased Iris to the sky above her palace, where she found a brainwashed Spiritia. Pamela freed Tia from this trance by defeating her, forcing Iris out of hiding, and then went on to defeat her as well. Pamela, though wondering if her sword would really work, then unleashed one last attack from her Weißsilber, destroying Iris and her palace. Trivia *Instead of the standard pronunciation of "Eye-ris", her first name is actually pronounced as "Eee-ris". *Her name is derived from Iris, the rainbow goddess, as her final form in both games appears as a maiden with three pairs of wings. *She bears many allusions to Dr. Wily from the original Mega Man series, as well as Lumine from Mega Man X8; in the first Rosenkreuzstilette, she revealed that she was behind the events of the game after killing her father following his defeat by Tia's hands. She says she no longer needed any more help from her father since he has already fulfilled purpose in plans to become "God of the new world," just like Lumine who no longer needed Sigma's help after he fulfilled his purpose in Lumine's plans for the "new generation of Reploids" and revealed that he was the first Reploid who went Maverick by his own free will. Iris also fled to her palace and fought Tia with her Iris Machine and the Iris Capsule, just like Dr. Wily did in Mega Man 4 after Mega Man defeated Dr. Cossack and fought him in a similar fashion at his fortress. When Iris was close to defeat in the Final Stage, she assumes the form a seraph, similarly to Lumine after Mega Man X, Zero, and Axl defeated his first form in Mega Man X8. Upon defeat, she also faked pleading for Tia's mercy and afterwards activated the self-destruct mechanism of her palace and escaped in her capsule, as Dr. Wily did in Mega Man 4. *Her line in the first game, "Oh, I am so anxious to rip you apart," is a reference to a line spoken by Double, a spy who was sent out by Sigma to watch over Mega Man X's actions in Mega Man X4. Iris also watched over Tia's action through her pendent, just like Double watched over Mega Man X and infiltrated Maverick Hunters Headquarters. Both characters act like friendly characters to their respective heroes before revealing themselves as evil and sadistic. *One of her victory quotes is inspired by a victory quote spoken by Dracula in Castlevania Judgment where he says, "Grovel in the dirt like the insect you are." *The staff behind the English translation of the first game found it difficult to have her distinct mannerisms (in the Japanese version, many of her lines end in "desu wa") coexist with her nods to megalomaniac villains like Light Yagami from Death Note and Laocorn Gaudeamus from Fatal Fury. To compensate for this, her English dialogue shifts from that of a prim and proper girl ("And a good evening to you, too, Miss Fairy.") to insane motormouthed arrogance as she loses her grip on her sanity ("You have the power of the world's finest magician coursing through your veins. How does it feel? Exhilarating? Intoxicating? Exuberant? Or perhaps such a puny vessel can't comprehend the magnificence of it all?"). *Her fate at the end of Freudia's story in Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel is interpreted by fans in different ways, whether it be being killed by being frozen to death by Freu or being sealed away by her in an ice crystal. 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